The End is Where We Begin
by Serena Thorn
Summary: Genoa City's private investigator calls Veronica in to help investigate the murder of a local man. Only Veronica gets far more invested than she ever imagined when she discovers Adam is alive.


Title: The End is Where We Begin  
Summary: The Young and the Restless/VM crossover. Genoa City's private investigator calls Veronica in to help investigate the murder of a local man. Only Veronica gets far more invested than she ever imagined when she discovers Adam is alive.  
Characters/Pairings: Nearly everyone involved in Adam's storyline, mentions Lamb, Keith, Mac, Parker, Logan and a few more. Veronica/Adam, mentions past Adam/Sharon  
Rating: PG-13  
Spoilers: Through 3x14 of VM and all of April 2010 of Y&R  
Word Count: 7529  
Disclaimer: The Young and the Restless nor Veronica Mars are owned by me, but by CBS and Rob Thomas. I'm simply borrowing these characters for non-profit entertainment.  
A/N: If it hadn't been for Mars vs. Mars, 3x13 or 3x14 I wouldn't have believed Veronica could be so biased and sometimes blinded by her want to believe the best of some people. With that in mind, this happened. 

* * *

"Paul Williams?" Veronica asked when she saw a mid-40-ish looking, tall and sandy-haired man with black-rimmed glasses glancing around the Crimson Lights coffee house. He fit the description her father had given her and this was place they had agreed to meet at. She hoped this was a good sign as she liked the idea of being able to get started on this case. Especially since Wisconsin was so far from Neptune.

Paul turned at his name and smiled to the petite blonde. "Veronica Mars?"

"That's me," she smiled.

"Would you like some coffee or -"

"Really, I'm just ready to get to work. I've done a lot of reading up on these people you called me about and wow. The Abbotts running this one magazine sure seem to have quite the vendetta against these Newmans."

Paul chuckled. If the girl only knew. "That they do. Well, okay then, I presume you read the latest article?"

"The one with Victor Newman publicly disowning his youngest son and then his son's reply in the next issue? Yeah. Pretty dark stuff. Can't say I blame the son for lashing out like that. Is it really true they held him captive in a cabin?"

"Well that's just it. I don't really know. And since it seems my own daughter was part of that Kangaroo Court and Adam Newman is the murder victim -"

Veronica knew already she was going to hate this case. Not even the friend of her father's would be impartial. _No wonder he called me,_ she thought to herself.

"So everyone is a suspect, you said?"

"Adam was killed in the basement of the Genoa City Athletic Club during the masquerade ball just before a gas leak explosion tore through the building. At the time several of us were down there, including his brother and father. Victoria Newman and Billy Abbott are also without alibis."

"I think that's the fifth time you've mentioned Victor now. What stands out to me though is first he publicly disowns Adam like he did, then he orchestrated the Kangaroo Court with several Genoa City residents, including officers of the actual court and now even he's a suspect in his son's murder and probably has the most motive. So where might I find him?"

"Likely at the ranch, the Newman Ranch."

Veronica nodded and listened as Paul talked a little more about the suspects and began to formulate her plan. Clearly she would have to go undercover in some way as usual and pretend to be one of them if she hoped to get anything real out of the Newmans or Abbotts or anyone else who had motive for wanting Adam dead.

As she thought about it the less likely it seemed that she would get anywhere by being anything but who and what she was. None of them had even been to Newman Enterprises for weeks, the athletic club was still undergoing reconstruction and the coffee house would've give her nearly the access she would need. She would have to be her usual investigator self, but she knew how she would have to play it. Unlike the others she would act as though she was more interested in exonerating them as opposed to accusing them.

Three days passed as Veronica continued to work with that private detective friend of her father's in investigating this man's murder in Wisconsin. Still all Veronica knew for sure was that the suspects were all prominent members of Genoa City's community and everyone else in town was biased either against those people or the murdered man. For that Paul Williams had asked for Veronica's help, knowing how efficient Keith was at these things but also knowing Keith couldn't be pulled away from his sheriff duties.

Only Veronica had proved herself to be more helpful than anyone imagined. It seemed Adam's father had faked his death the year before and went to Mexico to escape his family as he wallowed in his grief after his pregnant wife and the baby she was carrying were killed in a car accident.

With that in mind Veronica had asked a few of the cantina owners and managers to call her if any men fitting Adam's description came in. It wasn't hard for her describe him after a few of his oh-so-distraught family members had all but thrown the few pictures they still had of him at her.

She had let the shock in for a full minute. Her eyes scanned over every feature of the man's face in disbelief. His vibrant blue eyes, his short, spiky brown hair, his smile and even the dimple in his chin. She couldn't say they were identical, after all she hadn't seen Neptune's fallen sheriff in almost four years and it wasn't as though she had pictures of him lying around.

But did this man look like former sheriff Don Lamb? Yes. Did she wonder if he could be his long lost twin brother? Yes. But the words, the question never left her lips. Instead she settled for claiming she needed a glass of water when one of the women had asked if she was alright. She hadn't been, nor did she trust anything they gave her, but she had to say something.

Still, the fact Veronica had found a broken picture frame in one of the wastebaskets with another picture of Adam inside of it during one of her unguided searches through the house was telling. As was the overturned wedding picture of his and Sharon's. It proved to her that Paul was right, that the only people who cared that Adam was dead were the Detective Chancellor she had met briefly and the district attorney himself, the latter also seeming to have a grudge against the Newman family.

After her own meetings with them she couldn't really blame Owen for looking at them so closely and not exactly being their biggest fan. Exactly why he was willing to stake his career on this case however did make her curious as to what all had happened before now.

Now here she was, following up on the lead she had gotten from one of the men at one of the cantinas. The call had come just a few hours ago. A man had been coming into the cantina for a few days, always sitting up at the bar, always seeming very deep in thought. However he had overheard the man mention meeting with someone in Ottawa.

Another few hours found Veronica calling around bars in Ottawa, not liking the wild Wilson chase she had found herself on any more than she had originally. However it seemed very clear now that the man was indeed alive. By having remembered to mention Adam's limited eyesight and his need for a driver only one bartender had called her back. A woman who told her that the man she was looking for, at least one seemingly matching his description with the need for a driver was there.

Noting she could be there in three hours if she made it onto the next flight, she went for it. She had told Paul there was a possibility the killer had been working with someone and that this person was in Canada. It was easy enough to get him to stop asking questions with that. Really, she was thankful since anyone in Neptune would have insisted on going with her.

Veronica's eyes fell on the lean man sitting alone at the bar as soon as she walked in. The fact he fit Lamb's description to a T let her know this was the man she was looking for. Still, she had to shove all thoughts of Lamb from her mind, Lamb hadn't faked his death and yet clearly this man had. She couldn't even claim to blame him for it if he had done it to escape his sorry excuse for a family.

She gave herself one more second to prepare herself before making her way over, deciding the subtle approach would be best.

Adam glanced over as he saw the petite blonde take a seat on the stool beside his. For a second he had almost thought it could be Sharon. But he knew better. Sharon wouldn't have been able to find him, he had made sure no one from Genoa City could. He even knew she had no want to see him again and with that he threw back the last of his drink.

"What can I get ya?" the dark-haired woman asked.

"Beer," Veronica answered, even if she didn't entirely plan to drink it.

Maggie nodded before catching Adam's signal to bring him another.

Veronica looked to him again, having to remind herself once more that this wasn't Neptune's fallen sheriff. The short beard helped convince her, but she really hadn't imagined two men could look so similar without being related.

"I'm guessing you're not local," she said to him finally.

"No," he replied with a shake of his head.

Veronica pulled out a notepad from her bag and decided to keep quiet in a way that hopefully wouldn't make Adam turn and run.

Adam watched as she slid the piece of paper she had just scribbled something on over to him. He sighed. It could only be her number, or her hotel information and he really wasn't in the mood.

"You'll really want to see that," she told him when she saw he planned to ignore her note. "Adam."

There was a flash of panic in his blues, but Veronica only glanced back to the note.

_The D.A.'s willing to offer you a deal,_ it read. A thousand questions raced through Adam's mind. Who was this woman? How had she found him? Why wasn't she threatening him with jail? Had anyone followed her? Who in Genoa City knew he was still alive?

"It's okay, I'm not a cop," she told him. "And I'm here alone."

Adam watched her, unable to believe any of this.

Veronica brought her voice down to just above a whisper before continuing, "Owen Pomerantz saw the article and he was willing arrest everyone involved with the Kangaroo Court before your supposed untimely demise. Now he's going after everyone in Genoa City for your murder. Paul Williams brought me out from California so a pair of unbiased eyes could be on the case. And yeah, I managed to track you down in the process. I didn't mean to, but -"

"What makes you think the D.A. will give me a deal?"

"I've talked to Owen, who doesn't even know I'm here, but I asked him what he would have done had you not died. He told me that he would have granted you a deal."

"Right," he scoffed.

"If you testify against those who you mentioned as being part of the Kangaroo Court he wouldn't send you to jail. And especially now that more than a few suspects in Genoa City have tried to destroy and dispose of evidence only further proves to him that they had every intention of killing you and covering up your murder. As far as the GCPD is concerned, you're the victim. And you have your father's interview in Restless Style to partly thank for that."

She had also shown Detective Chancellor the shattered frame and wedding photo in the wastebasket but she could see Adam looked depressed enough, she knew better than to bring that up.

"What do I have to do?" Adam finally sighed.

"Come back with me to Wisconsin, or even Illinois to be close but not within the state line. It doesn't have to be Genoa City, I can call Owen and have him meet us wherever we are so long as it's close enough. After that you'll be free and they'll be behind bars for what they did to you."

"For all of an hour," he smirked before tossing back the rest of his drink.

"At least you wouldn't have to live on the run like this. Faking your death? Setting your brother up for murder? Wouldn't you rather have your freedom? Your real freedom?"

"My freedom? They would finish the job if they knew I was still alive. And they would get away with it because right now I'm legally dead. As it is my brother really did try to strangle me in that basement."

"There was blood on his jacket from the party, your blood, he's already the sole suspect. But from what I've heard and seen, he's not the only one who deserves to be. Well, in jail at least, not necessarily for murder."

"You really think the D.A. will give me a deal?"

"I really do. He seems to have a pretty intense grudge against the Newmans and he really wants to see them in jail for all of this. He's mentioned all kinds of things Victor's done. Something about a woman named Patty, some diary and a guy named Walter. If you help him get Victor, you will go free. I'm sure of it."

Adam thought about it. He could risk going with his original plan, bouncing around from country to country but there would always be that fear of Victor finding him. And of him killing him. He couldn't know for sure that he could trust this woman, but he guessed it was the fact she was reminding him a little of how Sharon had been that made him agree.

"Mr. Pomerantz?" Veronica asked when the district attorney answered his cell two and a half hours later.

"Who is this?"

"Veronica Mars. Paul -"

"What'd you find out from your contact?" Paul had told him why she had left and had been just as anxious to hear what had happened and what she had discovered.

"I need to know you're alone before I tell you. This information's sensitive at best." Looking to Adam in the Chicago motel room she had gotten for them, she could tell he was as on edge as she was while she waited.

"I'm in my car, I was just about to question the Newmans again. But I'm alone, go on," the older man nodded.

"Adam Newman wasn't murdered."

"What? Say that again."

"Adam Wilson wasn't murdered. I'm looking at him right now, alive and he's willing to tell you everything that happened. Everything from his father's article to his own to what happened at the cabin and what happened in the basement of the athletic club. But he has one condition."

"If it means hanging the Newmans he can have just about anything he wants." Owen was really looking to make an example of them for this. If he had to let a slightly smaller fish go in the process he was willing to do it. The idea of putting Victor Newman away was too tempting to pass up.

"Including blanket immunity?" she asked, seeing the hope beginning to battle the defeat in Adam's blue eyes.

Owen sighed. Every statement he had gotten from the Newmans and Abbotts only made him want to lock they away all the more. The fact they all wanted to see Adam in jail without having any real proof of his alleged crimes helped him make up his mind. "Yes. I will have to talk to him before I can make that official, however."

She nodded. "We're in Chicago, you can meet us here."

"You're not worried he'll get you on aiding and abetting?" Adam asked her after she gave Owen the name and location of the motel and hung up.

Veronica almost smiled. There was that Lamb similarity again. "No. I told you, he even just said it, that if you're willing to hang the Newmans then you're guaranteed your immunity. And if what you told me on the flight is true, that they don't have any real proof beyond Ashley's word, which is apparently sketchy at best given her state of mind last summer, then you really are off the hook."

"Haven't you heard about a purple cloth Ashley had?" he asked, having to repress a smirk.

"You mean the one that supposedly had blood on it that Phyllis didn't even notice her daughter playing with because she was too preoccupied with her husband?" He had a sense of humor even when facing something like this? Color Veronica impressed.

"Remind me to put in a good word for you with the D.A. I think Genoa City could use someone like you on their side."

She smiled. _There's something I'll never hear in Neptune. _"Thanks, but it's okay. Genoa City is the last place I think I could live. Even if this works."

"If this works, I won't even know how to thank you." Adam couldn't help it, a swell of emotions were coming up, almost ready to choke him. He had known this woman for just a few hours and already she was being kinder to him than his own family had been. He hadn't even really lied to her and yet she was calling in a deal for him with the district attorney. It made him glad he had waited another few days before his planned trip to Brazil.

She shrugged. "I never said you had to thank me."

"My own wife wouldn't have done this for me. But you, a virtual stranger -"

"Sometimes it's easier when it's a stranger. It's easier to be objective and just look at the facts presented without a sense of what you want to believe or what others are telling you to think. You just see it as it looks to be."

"I'm not going to stop trying to think of something though. You're really doing more then you know. I don't know why you're doing it, but I'm thankful. It's been a long time since someone believed in me."

Veronica could see the tears forming in his eyes and as much as part of her didn't want to, she walked over and sat beside him. "Adam, I've met your family. Your father, your siblings, Sharon." _Well that's telling, can't even say the words 'your wife.'_ "Even if you did the things they're saying you did, I'm not sure I can completely blame you. Even before those accusations, by all accounts, they treated you pretty horribly. I can see how one thing, how one lie, led to another. And in the kidnapping case, I can't say I agree with that either but Ashley Abbott accuses you of trying to drive her insane while the way I see it you helped her regain her sanity by giving her that baby. It doesn't excuse it, but I can see why you would have done it."

"You're sure about that?" He could only wait for her to turn on him. Everyone else had, it really seemed to be just a matter of time.

Veronica nodded. "But what really disgusts me is the fact that not one, not two, but _three_ members of the court were part of that lynch mob. Right there that lets me know just how corrupt Genoa City is and that's why I'm working with Owen and trying to work with you. With your help and some luck maybe we can help change it."

Adam almost laughed. "Change it? You really think so?"

"It'd be hard for it to stay the exact same with all of the Newmans and half of the Abbotts behind bars, wouldn't it?" she offered.

"That's assuming you get them behind bars for more than an hour."

"If their power and influence do that for them despite the D.A. going at them like he is, then you'll still have immunity and with that you can go wherever you want. But first we have to try."

"There's something I need to ask you. I know Sharon told the others that I was in the basement that night and you said you saw her. I need to know whose side she seems to be on."

"Adam -" she tried with a shake of her head. Now was not the time to get into this.

"No, I need to know. I know Phyllis got to her and Ashley too. And she had me served with papers when I was in the hospital. I just need to know how far she's going to protect Nick."

Veronica didn't want to tell him the truth, but she knew she didn't have a choice. Not if she expected him to tell Owen the truth. "She tried to dispose of evidence in the hope it would clear him. She's working with Nick and his wife and all the rest to help clear him."

"Phyllis?" he scoffed. Of if that wasn't the icing on the arsenic-laced cake he didn't know what was.

Veronica nodded. "They're all trying to protect him which is why Owen is going at this with everything he has. Seeing that strong front, seeing how far they are willing to go to protect a seemingly so guilty man is why I'm on your side. I can't say I agree with your methods, but given the frame of mind they were likely responsible for you being in, it makes sense. Plus, I live in a town that used to be that corrupt. I watched the man who killed my best friend and tried to kill me go free. Times like this I'm reminded why I do this."

Adam nodded. At least now some of this made sense.

Before he could think too much more about it they heard the sharp knock on the motel room door. It was time to make a deal with the devil. Of course Adam knew there would probably be a heated debate as to just which one of them was the devil.

"Miss Mars," Owen stated when she opened the door.

"I want to be there when you take the Newmans down," she told him with a half-smile as she stepped aside to let him in.

The slim, older man smiled back to her. "I'll see what I can do. But if you'll excuse us, I need to speak with Mr. Newman alone."

Veronica nodded, but not before glancing back to the younger man. "You'll let me know when you finish talking to him?"

"I'll call you," he nodded.

"Veronica?" Adam called to her just as she began to head out, catching her hesitation to leave.

"Yes?"

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet," she replied with a glance to Owen before she headed out and closed the door after herself.

What she was more angry with herself over she wasn't sure. The fact she was siding with a man whose crimes far surpassed Lamb's, the fact she was siding with a man who looked that much like Lamb or the fact that she didn't even feel the need to hear any more of the Newmans' sides of things. She hated being biased. First Mr. Rooks, then Logan when he told her about his role with the GHB at Shelly's party and then Josh who had turned her good deed against her when he was in jail. Now here she was, having been brought in to be impartial and instead she was ready to take all of the Newmans down in favor of Adam.

But he seemed genuine, he seemed remorseful and those tears weren't fake. His mother's death the year before had left him emotionally damaged and clearly his father and his father's rival, Jack Abbott had preyed on that. Jack was why Adam had been in jail in the first place and Adam's siblings Nick and Victoria hadn't been any better. Genoa City could claim all they wanted that Adam was a sociopath, she had seen for herself that wasn't true. With any luck, she decided, Owen would know it too.

Exactly when she had reached her rental car she wasn't sure. She wasn't sure she cared either. It was just a relief to be sitting, even if she wished she could hear what was being said in that motel room.

"We recovered a cell phone from the basement that had a message on it, with you stating that your half-brother Nick Newman was there with you. Would you care to explain that?"

The disposable cell phone he had left behind to implicate Nick had been found, good to know. "Sharon told them I was in the basement. Nick and Victor found me, but I saw Nick first. They attacked me. And Nick, he just wouldn't stop. I barely got away."

Owen looked him over, Adam did still have part of the cut on his chin from here Victor had struck him, the cut having come from Victor's watch they had found at the scene. "Why did you run? Why did you let all of us believe you were dead? Why not just tell us what happened? And how is it the body we recovered from the basement has your DNA?"

He sighed like any true victim would. "I knew now one would believe me, or if they did they wouldn't do anything. It's Genoa City, where the Newmans get away with murder. Sometimes literally. With everything that had been believed about me, I knew it was more likely you'd believe I deserved it. As for the DNA, I have no idea."

"Who else was in the basement that night?"

"I don't know. The light bulb smashed and I felt someone else grab me. Maybe Victor, maybe someone else. Either way, maybe some of my DNA ended up mixed up with theirs when they attacked me."

"Bone marrow. That was how we identified the man as being you. How do you explain that?"

"I donated some a while back. Maybe he's the guy who received it. Maybe Victor found him, maybe, I - I don't know. All I do know is that my own family tried to kill me that night and before that they tried to make people believe I was this monster. And from the sound of it, they're gonna get away with it. I ran to save myself. I knew if they thought I was dead that I wouldn't have to fear for my life."

"Will you testify to all of this? Against your family for their Kangaroo Court at the Abbott cabin and for attacking you at the club?"

"As long as we have our deal," he nodded. He knew he had confessed everything to Sharon, but even at the worst he had done what he did for a good cause. Or so he had rationalized to himself at least. And now that he had the chance to have Victor and Nick both convicted of attempted murder made this all the more tempting. So long as Owen didn't screw him over he would really be in the clear. Thankfully he seemed to want to see the Newmans in jail almost as much as he did.

As the trial ensued, Adam hadn't even noticed several of the things that had worked to his advantage. One of which being that guilty men would often confess under duress. At that cabin, he had been under several kinds of duress and he still hadn't breathed a word about the things he had done.

Also, he had apparently underestimated Owen's want to see Victor pay for every crime of his he knew about. Even going so far as to blame Victor for every one of his crimes.

Owen wasn't any lighter on Jack Abbott, bringing up Patty Williams every so often as well as how he had gotten away completely with his involvement in the forging of Victor's diary that sent Victor and later Adam to jail over a year before.

Adam knew better than to smile from his seat, but he was happy. Justice may never be served to his satisfaction, but it was nice to see those so mighty falling so far for the things they had put him through for the last two years.

Sharon's testimony would have been the final nail in his coffin if he hadn't struck that deal with Owen, but that was exactly why he had played that card as soon as he had. The fact people were buying Veronica and Owen's claims of him having been temporarily insane, once again thanks to Victor, only made it better. Veronica seemed like a nice girl and part of him hated letting her believe the lie she had concocted. Almost as much as he had hated lying to Sharon even. But if it helped him in the long run he knew he would have to live with it.

Veronica had been there herself, listening to it all. Only instead of it turning her against him like it might have under different circumstances, it only made her more sympathetic to him. It furthered her belief that Adam had been driven to do the things he had done. That he never would have committed those crimes if not for Victor, Nick, Jack and Victoria. She had heard for herself now that these people, his supposed family, really had brought this on themselves.

Not that anyone would get Adam's full story out of him and even on the stand he had a way of twisting the stories just enough. Still there was nothing any of them could claim were complete lies. Oh, they tried. But it didn't matter. The judge, like Owen, wanted to make an example out of the Newmans. Owen was continuing to go at them with everything he had, which while it didn't seem to be much, it was proving quite effective. Finally, the fact they had involved three officers of the court in their own attempt at justice hadn't done them any favors either.

Instead it only proved to them all just how far Victor would go to punish someone he disapproved of. The fact this particular someone was his own son only made him look worse.

When the verdict came in, no one was surprised to hear that only Victor was headed for jail, and even then only for a few months. An appeal would likely later reverse that verdict even still, but it didn't change the dent in their image.

Now the whole town knew what Adam had done, but it didn't matter because he had played the role of the victim in this to perfection. He was the victim, his father was a tyrant, a man who was never satisfied unless he was terrorizing those he disapproved of.

_What now, Veronica?_ she wondered to herself as she stared at her reflection in the courthouse's women's room mirror. Neptune should have been the first thing on her mind, she knew. To get back to work, to her friends and father. But Adam had pretty much just won against Genoa City. Certainly against the town's more prominent members.

Heather Stevens was on her way to being disbarred, Rafe Torres likely wouldn't be far behind and it would take another committee meeting to decide Michael Baldwin's professional fate.

With Ashley Abbott's sanity clearly questionable, _What kind of woman who's given birth before wouldn't be able to tell she hadn't had a baby?_ she had been forced to undergo yet more counseling. Nick, Phyllis and Jack had all been given probation. Sharon, mostly at Adam's request, hadn't even gotten a slap on the wrists.

It was that last one that had Veronica wondering where she stood now. Adam was technically still married, though his wife still seemed to want to have little to do with him. It wasn't a secret he loved her, even admitted to trying to convince her to run away with him when he had escaped from the hospital and showed up at the Masquerade Ball. That he had risked his freedom and essentially his life for her and still she had said no and then betrayed him.

Veronica knew that she did like him, married or not. She had sided with him when had this been nearly anyone else, maybe more specifically someone who didn't so closely resemble a certain fallen sheriff she often claimed she never thought about anymore, she would have thought the district attorney was insane to give him a deal.

Still, Adam had been grieving over his mother's death when he came to Genoa City, so to immediately go from that to Victor's emotional torture of him helped them to understand how this came about and kept most of them from blaming him too much for it.

_Just get out of here, say goodbye and get back to Neptune,_ she mentally ordered herself. _It's over, Adam's free. You did what you said you'd do. Just. Go. Let him get back to his life and go back to yours._

"Veronica?" she heard him call to her almost as soon as she stepped back out into the hall.

"Adam," she smiled to him, her best brave face forward.

"Owen told me you were planning on heading back home tomorrow. I was hoping I'd get a chance to say goodbye before that. And maybe thank you, again."

"You're welcome," she nodded, wondering if she should start charging him for thanking her. Already she would probably have about $5 if she charged him in dimes.

"You really stood by me, I appreciate it. And Owen, I can't - I had no idea."

"So what are you going to do now, Adam Wilson? Now that you're a free man and all? Are you going to Disney World?" she asked with a head tilt and smile.

He smirked, hoping she was asking for the reason he wanted her to be. "Well, I'm thinking I might leave here with the woman who's been making me want to reevaluate my personal free status as opposed to my legal free status."

Veronica had to swallow that time, just to make sure her throat still worked. It had only been two weeks and yet here she was, having to fight to detach herself. "I'm happy for you. I'm glad you and Sharon are going to be able to work things out."

"I didn't mean Sharon." Sharon had made her choice. He had seen it ever since she looked at him like he was the Boogeyman back at the club the night of the Masquerade Ball. He had asked her to run away with him and instead she had sold him out to Nick and Victor. The annulment papers when he was in the hospital had been bad enough, now he knew she would never be his again. But it wasn't a completely loss, he decided. Veronica had been there for him, she hadn't had an ulterior motive, she had only wanted to see justice done and she had stood by him all the while. Often quite literally and she hadn't cared who thought what about it.

"What?" she asked. She couldn't have heard that right. How could he not mean Sharon?

"Let me take you to dinner tonight. We haven't really had a chance to talk about anything but my mess of a family since we met. Tonight, now that it's over, I'd really like to have a chance to get to know the woman who's helped me more then I deserve."

Veronica smiled despite herself. Wasn't there some sort of code about getting too close to clients? Well, okay, he wasn't exactly a client, but still.

"I'll meet you at the Athletic Club's restaurant at eight?"

"I still can't believe they already reopened it, but yeah. Okay," she agreed with a smile. "And our one rule is no talk of your family?"

"With any luck. Just don't be surprised if they show up trying to ruin our night."

"I pretty much got used to that when I met them," she replied with a laugh.

"And you wonder why I'd rather spend tonight with you," he smirked.

"Okay, okay. You wore me down. I get it. I'll see you at the club at eight."

At exactly 8:01 P.M. Adam walked into the Genoa City Athletic Club in one of his best suites and headed straight for the petite blonde in the little black dress who was seated up at the bar. He knew he might only have this one night with her and he didn't want to waste the chance to make an impression. Still, she knew just about all there was to know about him. Now it was his turn to get to know her.

"Hey," she smiled when she saw him, ignoring that leap in her chest.

"You look amazing," he told her, unable to stop himself from looking her over again.

Veronica almost blushed. Yet another compliment from Lamb's long lost twin, she wasn't sure she would ever get used to it. "Thanks. So do you. I think this is the first time I've seen you in a suit and fleshly shaved without there being a witness stand involved."

He laughed. She wasn't wrong. "Well let me just say how glad I am you saved this lovely look for me and not those in that courtroom."

Veronica hopped down from her bar chair at that. "How about we get us a table and get started on that whole talking about all things not taking place in these last two weeks thing?"

"Deal," he nodded before offering his arm to her and leading her towards an empty table.

"So what would you like to know about the wonderful word of Mars?" she asked after they had given their waiter their drink order.

"How's Neptune this time of year? A nice relocation place, perhaps?"

She sighed. "Well, for some it might be, but I wouldn't really recommend it."

"Why not?" Because of how similar were to his family? Because she didn't want him being closer to her?

"Um, well, I told you that it's kind of corrupt. But beyond that, you think people look at you like you're a ghost here? That's nothing compared to what you'd get in Neptune."

"Why's that?"

"Because you bear more than a passing resemblance to someone who died there about three years ago. Our former sheriff, actually."

"Oh. Wow. Well then I guess that explains why you looked so stunned when you first saw me. And here I thought it was because of, well, me."

"I hear Chicago's nice this time of year though," she offered. She couldn't let herself think about Lamb now, not again. He was the one she blamed for being on this date in the first place. Adam had to be the good twin, he absolutely had to be despite the things he had done. Because if he wasn't then that meant that Lamb was and he was gone. Adam had to be the good one. With her he had been remorseful and polite and funny and kind… All of that had to mean he was the good twin. She couldn't let herself believe anything else. Especially not now.

Adam shook his head. "Too close to Genoa City. I really do need to get away from here, not to run and hide like I thought I needed to. I just need somewhere that's far from the likes of Victor, Jack, Nick and Phyllis."

"Sharon told me about plans you had to move to an island. Owning a bar in the Bahamas?"

"It was a nice dream while it lasted."

From there he changed the subject by asking her all the routine 'getting to know you' questions he could think of, Veronica answering nearly all of them with a smile. More and more he hated that the one woman in Genoa City that he found himself enjoying the company of wouldn't still be there in twenty-four hours.

As the hours went on they kept to their word of talking only about things that didn't have to do with jail or cruel family members or even Don Lamb. Veronica had to admit she wouldn't mind Adam coming back to Neptune with her, but she kept thinking he deserved better.

"Would it be alright with you if maybe I called you some time?" Adam asked her when they began to say their goodnights after dinner. Three hours in that club and he still didn't want it to end, but he knew better than to expect Veronica to invite him up for a nightcap or anything else.

If he had been anyone else she might have said no, but because he had made her laugh and could relate to her life motto of those staying being the ones who care and had come out of all he had faced a stronger and seemingly better man, she said yes.

He smiled. Maybe he wasn't about to lose her after all. "Come here," he told her as he opened his arms to her.

Veronica did and when she hugged him she knew she was sunk. Part of her was still struggling with the prospect of leaving. But she knew if she stayed she would just end up digging even further into the dirty deeds of those who had gone after Adam and that would have ended up doing more harm than good, giving her more enemies that would have made even Celeste Kane look pale in comparison. Still, she held on just a little too long and didn't miss Adam's smile fade when she finally pulled back.

"Goodnight, Adam," she told him with a little more disappointment then she had hoped for him to hear. "I guess I'll talk to you later?"

He nodded. "Goodnight, Veronica."

The first call came almost a week after she had gone back to Neptune. Adam had done what he said he would, he had gone back to New York and managed to have a buddy get him his old Wall Street job back. Still, he had considered risking the trip to Neptune, wanting to see the woman who had believed in him the whole time.

The calls continued back and forth for the next month. Both happy to avoid talking about anything Genoa City or Newman-related. Adam had even legally changed his last name back to Wilson.

"Hi," Adam answered his ringing cell on a seemingly random Friday night, smiling at knowing it was her calling.

"So what's there to do in New York on the weekends for the likes of high-powered stockbrokers who don't go out drinking with their buddies?" Veronica asked him.

"I guess I'm looking at it," he chuckled as he glanced to his open beer and then back to his TV.

"Or you could maybe see what's waiting for you outside your door," she suggested before hanging up.

He looked to his phone when he realized she wasn't still on the line, wondering if the call had been dropped. She couldn't be serious. Could she really be in town? Deciding to give in to his curiosity, he hung up and went over.

"Who knew, turns out one of the local papers was in need of a new photographer," she grinned when he opened his door. Maybe it was presumptuous and a little crazy, but those thoughts faded from her mind the second he pulled her into that kiss. It was good to know he had missed her too.

Adam couldn't even claim it was the first time she had left him at a loss for words, but he couldn't say he minded either when she was kissing him back like she was.

Veronica hadn't been able to deny that she missed him, or that she had wanted to see him ever since she had gotten back home. She had told her father about him and while Keith had been concerned he had been glad to see that Adam apparently hadn't been making waves since the trial and being back in New York so he felt he could trust Veronica's instincts about him. Mac and Parker had been the romantics of the group, all but packing her bags for her.

Finally she had let them a few days ago after she had heard she had gotten the newspaper gig, knowing she wanted to be with the man she had stood beside, trusted and helped protect.

To some, Adam would always be the villain and he had still managed to win the so-called princess from another land. Could this mean the end of his life as a villain? In some ways, perhaps. Adam hadn't asked to be the man he had become, but he knew that so long as he was free from his family and Genoa City that he likely would never again have to repeat the things he had done.

There was part of him that hoped this could be the beginning of him reclaiming his life as the man his mother would be proud to call her son. And with any luck the man that Veronica would one day be happy to call her husband.

However, for either to happen some truths would forever have to stay buried. Adam didn't even have to wonder if he could live with that. His mind was made up. Not only could he, he would. He had lost Sharon with his truths. He wouldn't let the same happen with Veronica.

The End


End file.
